Sugar beet harvester and topper



March 13, R BOWMAN y SUGAR BEET HARVESTER AND TOPPER 'I Filed May 17, 1943 l Patented' Mer. 13, 1945A UNITED STATES iIArElxI :OFFICE This invention relates to rsugar beet harvesters and toppers. Certain types of sugar beet harvesters are in use today which include means for plowing the beet from the ground, topping-it and delivering it to a mobile container which moves along with the plow. However, the beets are, of course, not only not the same sizev but they may be lifted different distances from the ground insofar as the top of the beets areI concerned so that the topping o f the beets is not uniform. Additionally, present means for plowing up and delivering the beets to the wagon or i other movable container involves the picking up of clods of earth which are delivered in considerable quantity to the wagon so that a large percentage of lthe load is made up of earth.

It is a general object of my invention to provide a sugar beet harvester which will remove the beets from the ground, top them and discharge them in such a way that no clods of earth are picked up and the topping operation is uniformly performed.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide means in conjunction with the customary uprooting plow wherein the plow partially re. moves the beet from the ground and a pickup device pierces the upper soft portion of the beet and also enters the hard upper crown of the beet f so that the beet is firmly engaged and carried to the topping mechanism. ,l

A further object of the invention is to provide means for insuring substantially uniform penetration of the sugar beet tops by the pickup mechanism so that when the beets are carried to the topping knife the tops will be cut off with a desired degree of regularity. l

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanyingv drawing wherein like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the views, and, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the device;

e Fig. 2 is a side elevation with part of the pickup mechanism broken away; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail of a portion of the pickup mechanism.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 I provide a pair of side frame members 4 connected by a rear cross member 5 and connected at their front ends to a suitable drawbar 6. The rear portion of the frame is supported by an axle 1 upon which wheels 8 are mounted. The axle is of cranklike form so that it can .be raised and lowered by means of a hand lever 9 which is connected to vside frame member 4. This axle I5 rupon which is -whe'el lliA having a' relatively wide at metallic the axle by links I Il and I I`. 'A tension spring connects the pivoted axle 'I with the left-hand is a conventional form of vertical wheel adjustment for farm machinery.

Extending downwardly and`forwardly from intermediate portions of the frame side members are armsv I2 which carry blades I3 adapted to travel through the groundbeside and beneath the beets to engage and uproot them as the machine moves along the row. f

A'pair of bearing members a s ub vframe member I4 are mounted on Ma to rotatably support an mounted a 1 relatively large band or tire Ilia. 'I'he'sub frame I4a is shown pivoted lto the main sideframemembers at I4b. 'Extending radiallyoutwardly from the wheel bandor tire I6a is a plurality of spaced circular blades I1 whose outer edges'are sharp. Between the blades I 'I are radially extending sharpened spikes or tines I8 which, as shown in Fig. 2\, extend outwardly beyondthe edges of the circular blades I1.

` carries a gear I9 which is in mesh with a gear 20 on a vertically extending shaft 2l. The shaft 2l is journalled between a lower bearing 22 and an upper bearing 23 which is in turn mounted on a vertical post 24 extending upwardly from the near side member 4, as viewed in Figs. l and' 2. The upper end of the shaft 2I carries a disc-like topping knife 25 which lies over the ends of the spikes or tines I4 at the upper portion of the wheel rotate in a clockwise direction as the machine movesl over the ground. A overlies a portion of the topping knife 25 and is supported by vertical members 21 which extbenddownwardly to opposite side frame memers In operation the apparatus is drawn along a row of beets and as it progresses the uprootlng blades I3 engage the lower portions of the beet and partially lift them from the ground.V This brings the beets into engagement with the circular knives I1 on the wheels I6 and also the spikes or tines I8 between said knives I1,. The upper portion of a sugarbeet is fairly soft and the relatively closely spaced knives I1 will penetrate said soft beet top. Beneath the soft top of the beet is a hard crown, and when the closely spaced knives Il encounter this crown they will not slice through it but will stop at that point. The sharpened sp'kes I8, however, will partially penetrate or pierce the hard crown of the beet I6 and is adapted to beet deilector rod 26 k and impale the beet thereon so that as the wheel continues to rotate it will pick up the beet and carry it around to the upper side of the wheel where it will be engaged by the topping knife 25 and slice the top of the beet from the main body thereof. The main portion of the beet aft.. er being topped is engaged by the deiiector bar 26 so that it is shifted from the path of movement of the wheel I6 and may conveniently drop into a sack `or onto aconveyor as desired. The top of the beet which is still impaled on the spikes I8 will be carried around until engaged by cleaning ngers 28 which extend between the knives I1 from the forward portion of the subframe Ma.

It will be noted that a part of the weight of the device is supported by the wheel i6. 'I'his insures proper penetration of the beet by the blades l1 and spikes i8. If desired the weight imposed by the wheel on the `beet can be varied by means of conveniently. located removable weights 29 to suit diierent harvesting conditions. One ksuch weight is shown hung -on the -axle l5.

It has been yfound that a harvester of the type disclosed will remove beets from the lground without waste and will accurately top Vthe beets at substantially the-same Afpoi'nt on each beet, and the harvested crop will be free `of large clods of dirt which are picked up -in great quantities by conventional beet harvesters in `use today. The structure is relatively simple and there is no delicate mechanism which needs frequent attention. When transporting the device along a roadway or the like the vrear wheels 8 can be loweredso that the beet harvester Wheel i6 can be carried out of contact with 'theroad-surface It will, of course, be understood vthat vvarious changes may be made in the `form, details, varrangement and proportions of the various `parts without departing Vfrom the scope of my invention.

What -I claim is:

f 1. In a -beet harvester, -a beet top penetrating element, a crown piercing/element adjacent to and extending beyond said penetrating element, said elements being supported for movement as a unit to engage beets in the ground, said piercing element being capable of readily entering the hard crown of the beet, said penetrating element having a degree of sharpness sufficient to penetrate the beet leaves and the bases of the leaf stems but insufficient to materially penetrate the hard crown of the beet, and a relatively rigidly supported plow located closely beneath the penetrating and piercing unit.

2. In a beet harvester, a beet top penetrating element, a crown piercing element adjacent to and extending beyond said penetrating element, said elements being supported for movement along the ground to engage the tops of beets in the 'l5 ground and having their beet top penetrating and piercing portions directed downwardly, and a 'plow located closely beneath the penetrating vand piercing unit.

3. In a beet harvester, a set of relatively close- "ZO 1y Yspaced blades mounted for rotation 'about a horizontalaxis, `said lblades having outwardly disposed edged portions, a plurality of spike-like elements mounted adjacent said blades and extending beyond the yedged portions of said blades from the rotational axis thereof, and a plow located `relatively closely beneath the downwardly disposed nportionsof .said blades and spike-like elements, the blades and spike-like elements being arranged to move across the ground rand contact 30 the. upper `portions of beets in the ground and said plow being arranged to move in conjunction therewith through the ground to uproot .the beets.

4. In a beet harvester, a set of closely spaced circular blades rotatable about a horizontal axis and yadapted to move across the ground, a plurality of spike-.like elements supported for rotary movement with :said blades and extending outwardly beyond the `edges of said blades, and a plow adapted to move ythrough the 'ground and 40 located relatively closely beneath the blades and spike-like elements.

5. The structure in'claim 4, and a beet topping knife extending across .said set of blades at a 5 point `somewhat above the ground and positioned closely :adjacent the outer edges of said blades. I ROBERT L. BOWMAN. 

